Last Chance Mining Museum — Attraction in Juneau

I enjoyed the museum but was fixated on panning. This is in the Last Chance Basin and panning Gold Creek gives you a chance to get your hands on gold. The Discovery Channel has showcased this several times to my knowledge.

Temper your expectations on the amount of gold you will get from panning as you will have to work to find flakes. Don't expect large nuggets and your retirement to ensue after panning. I did find plenty of flakes and was able to keep them. The guide was very helpful with technique and recovery.

Most cruise ships offer this as an excursion and you can even book through companies like Viator or Alaska Travel Adventures. This is not near the docks so you will either have to walk a long way or get transportation (either through booked tours or other means).

The creek and surrounding landscape is an honorable mention and I enjoyed this just as much as...

Really nice drive through the real parts of town! It takes you high up where you have great views and makes you feel like you're in the thick of nature. Not accessible for people who have difficulty walking, however, which was disappointing since I didn't get to share all the views and full experience with my 89-year old mom with whom I was travelling. I ended up taking lots of pictures for her to see, though and told her all about the equipment and experiences...

An interesting place to learn about mining history. It is very informal with old pieces of equipment and some labels. It took us about 20 minutes to look casually at everything. They sell pans for $8 that you can use to go down to the river to pan for gold. They don't really give you any instructions or guidance about how to do that. The dirt clearly has gold in it because it is sparkling but it is hard to find any flakes worth keeping. Still an...